Spice up your life!
Herbs and spices don’t just add flavour to your meals, they contribute to health.
By Marion Mackonochie, Herbal Research Manager at Lipton Teas and Infusions.
When is the last time you added a boost of flavour to your meals?
A grind of black pepper, a dash of herbs, some crushed garlic or a sprinkle of fiery chilli pepper bring out the best flavour in a meal by adding interesting tastes, reducing the need for salt and wowing the guests at your dinner party. However, research is now increasingly finding that the benefits may extend to improved health and longevity.
Public health experts agree that people consume too much salt and sugar in their diets – contributing to health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
The World Health Organization recommends that adults consume less than 5g of salt a day, and that sugar intake should not be more than 5% of an adult’s total recommended energy intake, which equates to roughly 6 teaspoons per day.
However, people in the UK and worldwide are consuming far more than this; with the average salt intake at 8.4g, and sugar at double the recommended amount.
One of the contributing factors to increased salt and sugar intake is that while people understand the health risks associated with eating too much salt and sugar, they are often unaware about how much they are eating.
Pre-packaged foods are a large contributor to this, alongside the quantities of salt and sugar in ingredients used for cooking. In addition, meals away from home are also a contributing factor to the higher than recommended intake of salt and sugar.
When eating out or buying pre-packaged food, it can be hard to tell how much salt and sugar you are consuming. Learning to read a nutrition label can be a useful tool to monitoring one’s intake of salt and sugar and the NHS has advice online that can help.
Salt and sugar are both ingredients which enhance the taste, flavour and aroma of food. However, herbs and spices can add more flavour to food, without the need for added salt and sugar.
Herbs and spices are an important part of both Mediterranean and Asian diets and are a likely contributor to the health benefits seen with both diets. Research is catching up to what traditional knowledge systems have known for centuries; that consuming herbs and spices contributes to better health outcomes.
As part of Lipton’s sponsored research, one of our brands, Pukka Herbs, collaborated with researchers at Kings University to assess the available evidence on the intake of herbs and spices. We found that there is promising evidence for the beneficial effect of many common herbs and spices in the treatment or prevention of some chronic diseases.
As a result of the mounting evidence, we have published our Spice Up Your Life Rainbow paper. It calls on the government and policy makers to do the following: include herbs and spices on the Eatwell Guide, the government’s recommendations on a healthy diet; invest in research into the benefits of herbs and spices including reducing chronic diseases; and to teach about the benefits of herbs and spices in school cookery lessons.
Once people know how to incorporate herbs and spices into their meals to improve flavour and reduce salt and sugar, the sooner we will start to see benefits in the health of the nation.
In January 2024, some of Pukka’s herbal and health science experts gathered at the Houses of Parliament to present the Rainbow Paper, to Members of Parliament and stakeholders from academia, health and nutrition charities. The event was focused on increasing awareness about the potential for culinary herbs and spices to improve diets and wellbeing.
For centuries, communities across the globe have been adding herbs and spices to food for both culinary and health benefits, but it has only been more recently that the academic research has caught up to traditional wisdom. From the Mediterranean diet to East and South Asian cuisine, health professionals are realising that herbs and spices are about more than just taste; they also can help contribute to our health.
Simple suggestions for increasing your herb and spice intake while reducing added salt and sugar
- Have a jar of mixed herbs next to your hob that can be sprinkled into any soups, stews and pasta sauces.
- Sprinkle cinnamon or nutmeg onto your morning porridge, coffee or tea instead of sugar.
- Add cardamom to a black coffee (try the ground seeds from 4 pods to start).
- Try out making your own curry paste from scratch (many of the jars you can buy pre-made are high in salt and sugar).
- Garnish humous and other dips with nigella seeds, oregano, cumin or sumac.
- Substitute salt for paprika to shake over potato wedges.
- Swap a sugary drink for a sugar-free cup of herbal tea.
- Choose from an array of caffeine free, sugar free herbal teas to increase your intake of herbs and spices.
For more information about Pukka and the Rainbow Paper, visit here
Pukka Herbs were Hospitality Sponsor at the recent DRWF United Through Diabetes educational event. Visit the event Digital Hub for more information and resources here
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